What is the Central European tourist market? – by Miroslav Radaković
100 grams of chocolate is 70
You bought 100 grams of chocolate and coffee and are going to visit someone. Without us realising, we started to „cheat“ our hosts and began to „100 grams of chocolate“ in the same or a larger package, bringing 90 grams of chocolate, then 85, 80... Of course, the companies selling this popular product did not announce to their users that 100 grams of chocolate had lost weight. On the contrary, the cardboard box in which the chocolate is packed has become larger.
About ten years ago, Slovaks protested that they weren't eating the same hazelnut cocoa spread as their Western neighbours. They proved this with laboratory analysis, and it turned out to be true. The packaging and brand were the same, but the contents were different. In this case, the quantity was identical. Of course, you can assume that the one in the West had more hazelnuts and the one in the East had more vegetable fats. The company justified this by saying that they adapt the product to market tastes, so based on some research known only to them, they concluded that Slovaks preferred to eat hazelnut margarine. This doesn't just apply to Slovaks, but to all other „new member“ states of the European Union and those outside it. I am not aware that any institution, agency or court in Europe has so far ordered the company in question not to make fools of its users behind the virtual border of „former Eastern Europe“. Apparently, there is discussion, debate, advice, consultation, research, polemics, etc. There are no results; in fact, there are results, they have simply continued to do as they please.
Tourism in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland has, in recent years, turned into a war of major corporations from Germany and Poland. Other companies from Ukraine and Turkey have also joined this „battlefield“ due to the war in the East. This has been causing a drop in package prices for several years, even though we are all witnesses to the rising cost of all products and services, pushing beyond all reasonable limits. It's only in the Central European tourist market that for the price of a good lunch in a local restaurant, you can travel to Egypt to a 5-star hotel and eat and drink for 24 hours.
To illustrate this better, I will provide a few more verifiable facts. Here are the costs for 7-day flight packages: Emirates – 5-star ALL INCLUSIVE hotel from 550 to 700 euros, ZANZIBAR 4 to 5 stars, all inclusive around 700 euros, Kenya is slightly cheaper, Thailand Krabi half-board for around 750 euros. Packages that, with great effort, hover around 1000 euros per person for a 7-day all-inclusive programme can be found in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and Mauritius.
Why is that so? I'd love to have an answer, but I can confidently conclude that there's no rational mathematics to justify such market competition for a third season.
How many times have you heard from your relatives and acquaintances that they bought a ticket to a European destination with a 2-hour or longer flight for 20, 30 euros? They could have told you this in a cafe where two cappuccinos and a mineral water cost more, but they don't connect that these two services don't have the same value. For them, it becomes quite normal, but for the basics of economic science, mathematics, and common sense – it is absurd. Soon, prices for holidays in these markets will be measured by a sack of potatoes or a ticket to the theatre or hockey.
Clients have never had it better, a golden age. Large companies, with the probable help of „creative accounting“, are showing slight losses or gains in their business, while small and medium-sized enterprises, which still operate by the laws of nature (2 + 2 = 4), are slowly losing the battle and giving up on this activity.
Small and medium-sized agencies are left with resourcefulness and creativity in their choice of products and in communication with clients, for which larger agencies lack the infrastructure or organisation. The company TIME TRAVEL relies on these advantages (personal approach, technology, flexible offering) which it utilises. Investment involves greater commitment, time, and knowledge, and thus it continues to achieve growth and maintain its market influence.
In the recent past, major giants have collapsed (Neckermann, Thomas Cook, FTI), likely due to a lack of creativity from their accountants and mounting debts. Alright. Do you think anyone was held accountable? On the contrary, insurance companies that insure travel agencies against bankruptcy in Europe have had to increase their premiums, because, God forbid, they have had expenses due to naughty large corporations. Now be smart and explain to yourself how to continue in this business and stay sane?
There was also a small rebellion in the Czech Republic when these smaller ones warned, through the association of travel agencies and tour operators, that the largest travel agency in Europe was selling the same package in Germany for double the price it was in the Czech Republic. They were explained from the outset that it was not about the popular damping, but rather a „marketing campaign,“ which has been ongoing for years. A similar answer to that for hazelnut spread.
I agree that this time travellers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, etc. are fareing well, but if you remember that during the time of Covid, the state helped companies, firms and employees, that „generosity“ has been paid for dearly by everyone in recent years through ever-increasing price hikes. The situation is probably similar in other industries, and I would leave it to those working in those fields to write about those topics.
What is the purpose of this condition in the „Eastern European“ markets? It is difficult to answer and conclude. It is much simpler to understand the process of „the big ones“ who make 70 out of 100 grams. Now it's the opposite, they make 200 out of 70, and sell it for 70. The answer to these doubts will come soon. Surely someone will pay the price for this game. I fear it will be us again, your relatives, friends, and we will get plenaries, discussions, panels, reports as answers for this situation, without a real conclusion.
In several countries already, economic figures indicate a decline in small and medium-sized enterprises and a strengthening of monopolistic private and state corporations. This is in someone's interest, as very little happens by chance in the global economy. I am of the opinion that there has never been a greater need for us to do something, and as a first step, to speak publicly and loudly about what is happening around us. The second step will open up on its own. Dear colleagues, you are not sure that this circus, which is currently playing in some other city, will not come to perform on your agency's doorstep.
The author is the founder of the TIME TRAVEL agency, which has existed for over 37 years and operates in the Czech Republic, the founder of the GALILEO ADRIATIC company, a representative of the Global Distribution System TRAVELPORT for Southeast European countries, and the author of the books „Miris boja“ and „Svet je isti“ (The Smell of Colours and The World is the Same).
